One of Planeta.com's tentpoleevents, Indigenous Peoples Week is our fourth annual celebration of social web storytelling about indigenous peoples and tourism around the world. The conversations take place on various social web channels. To help curate the disparate information we ask participants to use the #IPW4 hashtag to identify useful resources about indigenous travel on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

Our conversations have already begun. You'll be the most engaged during Indigenous Peoples Week if you take an honest look at the way you use the social web today to learn about indigenous culture and options for authentic encounters and responsible travel. If you're not following indigenous friends on Facebook and Twitter, then this week will show you how to begin. If you're already using the social web, then you can delve deeper into the local and global scenes.

Get involved. Participating in Indigenous Peoples Week Week can be as simple or involved as you like. Connect with the global momentum toward indigenous culture on the local level. No registration is necessary and participation is free and open to all.

Indigenous tourism comes in many forms -- from pow wows to museum visits, local meals, guided walks, presentations and lectures. Please show us what is happening in your corner of the world and please be curious and learn about cultures in other places around the world.

What's new in 2014? As always, the event is driven by participants, so we expect to learn many new things! Highlights will be curated via Flipboard and Storify. Check out the week-long Outbounding Q&A.

Kudos to Planeta editors for updates here and embedding indigenous culture elsewhere on this site. (If you'd like to volunteer as a Planeta editor, please check out this page and contact Ron Mader directly).

Agenda/Calendar

Online Challenges

Before the event ...

Ask your neighbors, family, friends about indigenous tourism: What are their recommendations? Do they have questions?
On your browser, favorite or bookmark the pages that inform you about indigenous peoples. Please bookmark this page!
Register for an account on Twitter and follow the #IPW4 hashtag. Please post questions or relevant resources with the hashtag and we'll curate these tweets for our Flipboard and Storify features.
Update your profile and avatar on Flickr, Google+ and Twitter. We'd love to see you rather than an egg or silhouette.
Subscribe to indigenous podcasts and read indigenous news.

Monday, August 4

Has it been four years?!

Hanging out with Anders of Nutti Sámi Siida, we both expressed a certain sense of incredulity that time could have passed so quickly since we launched Indigenous Peoples Week in 2011. Back then and now, the week is a glorious attempt to use the social web to connect ourselves with indigenous culture around the world.

This is a participant-driven event which means we look to you for presentations, slide shows, videos, podcasts and other creative means of showcasing indigenous culture. Those who are not indigenous are cordially invited to ask questions. You can also curate features and images using sites such as Pinterest or Flickr. Everyone is encouraged to solicit specific advice and tips from tourism officials. Please share what you learn.

Indigenous tour companies, artisans, cooks and other leaders are encouraged to talk up your own work and your community. This week you have a very interested audience keen on learning about your culture. If you don't speak or write English, no worries. Communicate in your own language but please include the #ipw4 hashtag if you are tweeting on Twitter.

Immediate outcomes: For those who tweet, we will be collecting our favorite posts, curating them for features online Flipboard and Storify.

Possible outcome: We'd love to renew or improve the Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Award. Suggestions please! We've seen how competition for the award helped bring public awareness to the contenders and helped improve the digital literacy of the tourism companies. What are the next steps forward?

Specific requests:Twitter: Please introduce yourself and your interest in indigenous tourism. Don't forget to include the #ipw4 hashtag. Please retweet the #ipw4 posts you find of interest to your followersFacebook: Please like, join and share the page Indigenous TourismGoogle+: Please circle, join and share the page Indigenous TourismOutbounding: Something brand new this year is an extended Q&A. Comments and questions are welcome.

Indigenous Wiki:Sámi: The Sámi people live in four countries and have no national state of their own, but the Sami flag has been flying in Norway, Finland, Russia and Sweden since 1986. The area has been populated, at least, since the last ice age and the oldest written document about Sámis is from a Roman historian that AD 98 wrote about "a fearful people in the far north that dressed in animal skins and could walk on snow (skiing)".

Tuesday, August 5

We are off to a swell start for Indigenous Peoples Week. I judge the success of an event by two factors: how surprised I am by what others share and how pleased I am by making contact with old friends. Hanging out yesterday with Anders Karrstedt, he suggested we need to evaluate the week by how many new participants we can coax online. I agree it's vital that to expand indigenous tourism we need to get more people talking about this, asking questions and sharing examples. It's all up to you.

Please remember that Indigenous Peoples Week serves multiple communities: there are localized indigenous guides, artisans, community leaders seeking tips on making tourism an effective force for economic growth. There are policy-makers and government leaders unsure on how to develop or market indigenous culture. And there are travelers who want to know about the inhabitants of the lands they wander. Logistically, how do we pull everyone into the same room?

Today's hangout asks whether our media coverage of indigenous tourism is good enough. Personally, I am far from satisfied. Travel writers repeat too many tropes, discovering as it were indigenous peoples for the first time over and over again. Enough Columbusing! It's time to pay attention and listen to what indigenous friends are saying. And if travelers want to be supportive, there are plenty of ways to amplify indigenous voices.

One voice I'd encourage you to listen to and amplify is the Yucatán-based @elChilamBalam which kindly translated 'Indigenous Peoples Week' into the local language: U k'iinilo'ob wayil kaajo'obe' or Semana de los pueblos originarios. A radio station is being developed and you can also listen to their Soundcloud channel.Specific request: Please show us something curated - a Flickr gallery, Flipboard magazine, a Pinterest album, a story on Storify, a YouTube playlist. Curate your own or share something you've found.

Wednesday, August 6

Hanging out Tuesday with friends from Outbounding and Transitions Abroad, I decided to be a bit provocative. Since the topic was evaluating media coverage of indigenous tourism, I asked the participants whether they were satisfied. The consensus was a clear 'no.' Among the problems -- recycling of tired tropes and the lack of depth in travel features.

Here's the good news. Examples of good practices and workaround solutions for travelers seeking indigenous tourism experiences outnumbered complaints. Kudos to everyone in the hangout: Abhishek Behl, Ethan Gelber, Gregory Hubbs, Mike Robbins, Nicholas Stanziano and Carlos Topete. The prognosis for future coverage was quite positive, particularly as media changes from writing about others to collaborating on the social web.

One good example is the expanded coverage of local culture from the town of Teotitlán del Valle in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Zapotec community has its own Google+ and Twitter accounts. I think this is the model for future collaboration. It's not just foreigners (like myself!) writing about indigenous Oaxaca. There's a place for foreigners (like myself) writing about Mexico. We just need to seek new ways to collaborate and step #1 is to seek out and interact with local indigenous voices.

Here's another good example. Earlier this year Australia's TEDxManly featured the presentation Keep our languages alive by Kylie Farmer. This is my choice of video of the year for anyone visiting Australia. Why? Because it asks the simple question: do you know how to say 'hello' in an Aboriginal languages? This video is a gamechanger. Want to interact with indigenous people? Learn how to say ‘hello.’

Indigenous Wiki:Zapotec: Zapotecs are an indigenous group in Oaxaca. Linguistic diversity fans: there are about 100 variations of the language. If you want to learn the lingo from San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, check out the BnZunni YouTube channel.

Thursday, August 7

More good news! By way of India, we are co-hosting the #untravel #ipw4 Indigenous Travel Tweetchat, tomorrow at 8pm IST, 7:30am PDT . A tweetchat is simply a series of questions and answers posed on Twitter.

Twitter: Please introduce yourself and your interest in indigenous tourism. Don't forget to include the #ipw4 hashtag. Please retweet the posts you find of interest to your followers.Facebook: Please like, join and share the page Indigenous Tourism (87 likes)Google+: Please circle, join and share the page Indigenous Tourism (10 members)Outbounding: Something brand new this year is an extended Q&A. This particular topic now has 22 responses and 34 upvotes. (Thanks for the upvotes, everyone!)

Returning to the topic of a possible outcome of Indigenous Peoples Week: We'd love to renew or improve the Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Award. If you look at the nominees, you're seeing a who's who of treasured tourism offerings around the world. That said, the last go-around was back in 2010, so the awards needs a major update.

I'd also like to see if there is interest (and funding) for an award for the best online promotion from national and or local tourism organizations that promote indigenous tourism. It's my experience that much of the promotion one finds on official sites fails to provide specific details to potential visitors. There are some good examples, so what if we were to talk up what works? I see a new and improved award having two categories: 1) individual businesses and 2) regional or national tourism authorities. Embed the awards in a series of online discussions and workshops and this time next year we could have a much more detailed celebration of indigenous tourism.

Indigenous Wiki: Māori: The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. The Māori originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages at some time between 1250 and 1300.

How much time will take this?

2-3 hours – Visit a local indigenous business; learn about indigenous culture in another part of the world

Language

Indigenous Peoples Week is open to posts in multiple languages. We encourage the use of audio and video to document the culture in the local vernacular. Record a conversation with an indigenous friend. We would like to challenge participants to have a discussion with someone whose native language you don't understand!

Tips: Try something new.

Tips: Try reading information in a different language. We encourage the use of Google Translate. It's not perfect but it will help expand your frames of reference.

Levels of Engagement

We have come up with five simple levels of engagement that apply to successful participation. If you want to be engaged, be attentive, be creative, be generous, be curious and be empathetic.

Be attentive: Go outside, visit a museum, learn about indigenous culture. Do stuff!

Be creative: Use the social web to share stories and ask questions. Make something! Examples: Make a Flickr gallery (example) or Pinterest album. Upload a video to YouTube or presentation to Slideshare.

Be generous: Add stars to other people’s photos or make a gallery of your faves, like comments on Facebook, give a thumbs up to videos on YouTube and have a heart by favoriting the Indigenous Peoples Week presentation on Slideshare. Plus +1 the post on Google+. When in doubt how to be generous, just be kind!

Be curious: Be open to examples of indigenous tourism where you were not necessarily looking. Let your curiosity surprise you. This might be in your own country or in the place where you are planning a vacation.

Be empathetic: Extend your compassion to what and who you see.

What distinguishes Indigenous Peoples Week

Google hangouts. We will be scheduling at least one hour per day during Indigenous Peoples Week. We love the hangout format as it encourages ambient, candid conversations rather than discourses or people reading out presentations word-by-word. Tip: Please circle Planeta on Google+ if you'd like to be the first to know about upcoming real-time conversations.

Gameification. We ask participants to make learning fun via gameification. Are there respectful ways to gameify Indigenous Peoples Week? We think so and thus have created the poster challenge. Museums and site specific spots that want visitors are encouraged to offer promotions for those who visit during Indigenous Peoples Week.

Controversies. One of the attributes of an unconference is that the participants set the agenda by what they do and what questions they raise. While we are not seeking out controversies, we welcome the opportunity to explore critical issues. Already we've seen a discussion blossom on Facebook as to whether indigenous peoples should always be capitalized 'Indigenous Peoples.' There's also discussion about mining and other extractive industries.

YouTube Playlist Challenge

One of our favorite forms of curation is via the selection of favorite videos on YouTube. Call it old school or call it brand new, we challenge you to create inspiring playlists focusing on indigenous culture and travel. Look for our favorite video playlists below.

Poster Challenge

Put your hands and heart to work. We'd love to see your handmade posters for Indigenous Peoples Week. Be creative and show us the results. Bonus bonus points for artwork in indigenous languages. Bonus bonus points if you include Indigenous Week's QR Code!

What to do with your poster? You can add your artwork on Facebook and Flickr. Tip: If you post to Flickr, it's easy for us to embed the widget code on this page ... and we can easily see which poster is the most popular in number of views. On Flickr please use the license 'Attribution-ShareAlike' which allows anyone to use and remix the poster. More about licensing via creative commons.

If you cannot create your own poster, then help us out by liking, favoriting, sharing the posters. You can even print the posters and display them at local libraries, museums and stores. If you cannot create, curate!

Be Engaged: How to get outside, meet people and eat delicious foods

Try these suggestions all year round, but Indigenous Peoples Week is a great time to start! Find out if there are any special activities in your city for August 9, the International Day of the World's Indigenous People

Visit a museum: Seek out museums that work with indigenous peoples. Bonus points if you share photos on Flickr in the World Museums Group.

Buy crafts: Support indigenous artisans by purchasing an authentic indigenous craft. Bonus points if you share photos on Flickr in the World Crafts Group.

Take a tour: There are many indigenous guides and tour companies. Make a reservation.

Create supportive work spaces: Your workplace or school can support Indigenous Peoples Week. Support staff, students and colleagues with resources.

Schedule some indigenous language time:Allocate time for an indigenous language class.

Make a sign: Put bilingual signs up where you are - signs are a visible way of showing that indigenous languages are valued. Not so creative? Download our handsome posters and hit the streets to encourage others to join Indigenous Peoples Week from their homes, community buildings and businesses.

Tip: If you create or attend a local event relevant to indigenous peoples, let us know so we can amplify the message. Here are some ideas

Blog: If you have your own blog, share stories about indigenous culture; if you don't have your own blog, add constructive comments to a blog of your choice!

Facebook: Introduce yourself on the event page; You can also recommend relevant groups and pages on Facebook. If you know of specific indigenous tourism operations with presence on Facebook, invite them to join Indigenous Peoples Week

Flickr: Create an account an upload a few photos of your work. Create an album like Sami Food! There are a number of relevant groups. One of our favorites is the World Crafts Group open to indigenous and non-indigenous artisans. Another fave is the World Parks Group. The point is to share tips on indigenous tourism, embedding the info within the photo description. A plus for indigenous tourism businesses is the ease of creating a widget to share Flickr photos on websites and blogs. If you want to be generous, buy a gift account for someone whose work you respect.

Foodspotting: Please share photos of indigenous foods available for visitors.

Twitter: Tweet about indigenous culture and please tweet about this page! Ask others to invite indigenous guides and artisans.

YouTube: Record your own video and introduce yourself and your interest in indigenous tourism. If you are a tour company, show us something during the week. You can also curate a playlist to document indigenous culture and traditional knowledge. Example: 2012 Indigenous Peoples Week

Be Engaged: A guide for everyone

There's something for everyone to engage in responsible indigenous tourism. Whether you're indigenous or non-indigenous, a tour guide or traveler, museum curator or museum visitor, here are some things you can do:

Bloggers, Journalists, Guidebook Authors and Publishers - Ask questions that you'd like answers. Afterwards, please keep us updated on how you are using the information. Let's embed responsible indigenous travel in media features. Do you need illustrations for your stories? Here's the Flickr album of artwork and posters, all with attribution-sharealike licenses.Conference organizers - If you are holding an event that features indigenous culture, share with us what you're doing.Government officials - Prepare blogs, tweets, flickr albums and Slideshare presentations about your work in indigenous travel.Museum directors - Print and display the conference posters, host local events and please announce your work via our Facebook and Google+ event pagesSponsors - Contact Ron if you'd like to help financially support new publications, resource guides and workshops.Students - Share news with your teachers and classmates. Print out the free posters for your classroom or academic notice board; make your own posters and please share online!Teachers - Share news with your students and colleagues. Print out the free posters for your classroom or academic message board; make your own posters and share online!Travel companies, guides, hotels, restaurants - Add photos to Flickr, videos to YouTube and show us specific examples of your work; print the free posters for your business; create your own poster; offer discounts to visitors who mention Indigenous Peoples Week; encourage your clients to use social web to provide testimonials of what you do well; tweet about specific actions and provide links where we can find detailsWikiEditors - please help clarify the text and translate the info on this page; update other pages on the Planeta Wiki

Why should you consider hosting a satellite event during Indigenous Peoples Week?

It’s a great way to build the momentum for Indigenous People in your area and in tandem with others across the world;

You can host the event in a way which suits you—on your own timeline and with your own speakers, policy makers and more;

It’s great experience that allows you to connect with allies around the globe.

FYI

This online unconference is free. The primary objective is two-fold: to raise awareness of indigenous tourism options around the world and to improve digital literacy skills among the indigenous tourism providers themselves.

Use social web to curate and share stories of starting up, collaborating and developing new initiatives. Curate has been a one of the key buzzwords as in 'If you can't create, curate.'

Become online conference fit by registering for social web channels. Create your own materials. Also, be generous. Applaud the work of others who inspire. Have fun.

Show us a future we can literally share.

Financial sponsors are welcome to further the dialogue through innovative workshops and road trips. We are thinking of developing a concurrent kickstarter campaign. Please contact Ron Mader if you'd like to collaborate.

Soundbytes

Ron Mader: "One thing I've learned from Oaxaca, Mexico is that anything worth celebrating for one day is worth celebrating a week or more! Indigenous Peoples Week honors August 9, the International Day of the World's Indigenous People. For non-indigenous people like myself, this week is a ticket to understanding the world's diverse cultures. It's time to take stock of the number of indigenous voices that reach our eardrums. The social web is used by indigenous peoples and visitors alike so we invite friends to share stories that inspire and educate us all."

Anders Kärrstedt: "Indigenous Peoples Week tests our abilities to see what's possible in terms of sharing information online in a timely manner. Hopefully we will share a lot of information about indigenous peoples worldwide."

Gameification

We want Indigenous Peoples Week to be fun. Keep an eye on this wiki as we figure out some incentives for participants. We'll use the gameification model as a start. For indigenous tourism businesses, artisans and museums, you might want to offer a discount or promotion. For participants who want visible recognition of their contributions, we offer a certificate of participation. If there other incentives that would motivate you to get stuck into Indigenous Peoples Week, let us know.

Special Dates

August 9 International Day of the World's Indigenous People
suggested hashtag: #IndigenousDay

Why an unconference? What's an unconference?
We have chosen the format of an unconference -- a facilitated, participant-driven conference centered on a specific theme -- in order to catalyze a global conversation so that lessons can be shared around the world. This also allows us to co-create an event with a minimum budget. The organizers are volunteering their time and no charge is made of participants.

Who are indigenous peoples?
Anders Kärrstedt: Ethnic groups who are native to a land or region, especially before the arrival and intrusion of a foreign and possibly dominating culture. They are a group of people whose members share a cultural identity that has been shaped by their geographical region. A variety of names are used in various countries to identify such groups of people, but they generally are regarded as the "original inhabitants" of a territory or region.

What is indigenous tourism?
Indigenous tourism can be a guided trek, a meal, a night spent in an indigenous home or a visit to a museum or a performance. It can be 100% manufactured or 100% authentic. What makes indigenous tourism responsible travel is when the locals and visitors are treated with mutual respect.

How has the awareness of indigenous tourism changed in the past ten years?
Awareness of indigenous tourism has matured in the past decade. Irresponsible actions -- exploitation -- are frequently headline news and the focal points of campaigns. However the promotion of indigenous tourism options has not enjoyed similar popularity, leaving visitors and locals alike with the notion that there is much to be wary and little to cheer for. That said, the intention of Indigenous Peoples Week is catalyze a productive conversation (and hopefully some real-time reservations) that support indigenous tourism. This is a call to action and we hope that Indigenous Peoples Week provides the needed wake-up call.

How can we evaluate the success of Indigenous Peoples Week?
We'd like this celebration to gently nudge everyone forward. We'll keep track of the number of participants who join and participate (aka engage!) via the social web. We'll highlight what participants bring forward on this page and ask everyone to rate or rank their favorites. We'll continue to count the number of views on the Slideshare presentation and encourage participants to comment and to upload their own presentations and documents. We'll work with guides and companies featured in Planeta.com's World Travel Directory and help articulate their connections to the indigenous world. We will also add links to media features and blogs, youtube videos and slideshare presentations that mention Indigenous Peoples Week. It's all about building a buzz that benefits us all. Can we improve upon last year's Indigenous Peoples Week? That's our goal!

What are the benefits of participating in Indigenous Peoples Week?
Compassion. Education. A renewed sense of wonder. That said, what you get out of this unconference depends on what you invest and how you collaborate.

How do I get the most out of Indigenous Peoples Week?
Be specific with your goals. And prepare to follow through throughout the month of August. You will have to structure a routine that works for you. If you are not able to check out the posts on our Facebook and Google+ event pages, if you do not have time to watch the videos, then chances are you're not going to get that much out of our unconference.

What do you expect from IPW partners?
Some promotion, announcements before the week begins and perhaps a hangout or few before and during IPW4. Partners are invited but not obliged to edit the Planeta Wiki. Partners are encouraged but not obliged to hold a local physical event during the week. We appreciate any social web tips/examples that help explain social web channels used to catalyze communication, ala 'Here's how to make use of YouTube' or 'Here are indigenous tourism champions of the Northern Territory.'

May 2014 Message for Partners
Las Vegas, Nevada

Greetings and Saludos

As we prepare for the 4th round of Indigenous Peoples Week, I would like to confirm your interest in being a partner for this event.

As I see it, Indigenous Peoples Week is a week-long spotlight for a year-long or life-long topic of interest. Let's find ways to collaborate and share beyond this week.

6) Propose new hangouts. If the 830am Nevada time does not work for you, give me some options.

7) Start writing new blogs, features and wikis about the topics that interest you. I'd be happy to host collaborative essays on the Planeta Wiki aimed at 1) indigenous tour providers and 2) visitors. I love the Top 10 for Indigenous Tourism options in Oaxaca -- http://oaxaca.wikispaces.com/indigena -- could we create something similar for Nevada? Or Sweden? Or New Zealand?

8) Use email and let colleagues know about Indigenous Peoples Week. It's not too late to introduce the topic to those working in the field, to journalists and to policymakers. Connecting the local to the global is easiest when you make personal recommendations.

9) Upload new YouTube videos. Take us somewhere. And please, share the link via the social web and the #ipw4 hashtag.